MARKETS project meeting - Spring 2023
Following meetings in Istanbul and Tbilisi in the spring and autumn of 2022, the first meeting of 2023 of the MARKETS project took place on March 27th-30th in Leuven, Belgium. This event was co-organized by HIVA - Research Institute for Work and Society of KU Leuven and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the University College London (SSEES UCL). The organization committee was composed of ESRs Alexandra Fernandes (KU Leuven), Malika Toqmadi and Piotr Majda (UCL) and supervisors Jozef Pacolet (KU Leuven), Alena Ledeneva, Eric Gordy (UCL) and Abel Polese (project coordinator, DCU).
Day 1
The first day of the meeting consisted of a conference on the measurement of the undeclared economy and tax evasion and avoidance, organized by Jozef Pacolet and Alexandra Fernandes, KU Leuven. The aim of the conference was to bring together various stakeholder groups (e.g. policymakers, academics, tax administrations, national accountants, and controllers such as labor authorities) in order to assess the state of play in the measurement and fight against social and fiscal fraud. As was noted by the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem during his speech on the need for a better grip on tax evasion and tax avoidance, “(...) taxation is inextricably linked to values such as reciprocity, justice and solidarity (...)” and “(...) in order to implement a sound socio-economic policy and show clout in combating fraud, it is crucial to know the extent of fraud as well as where and how it manifests itself”.
In addition to Mr. Van Peteghem, the programme benefited from contributions from Jozef Pacolet, Alexandra Fernandes, Frederic De Wispelaere (HIVA-KU Leuven), Friedrich Schneider (JKU), Abel Polese (DCU), Tihomira Dimova Rodde (UNECE), Peter van de Ven (former head of national accounts at the OECD, lead editor of the 2008 SNA update), Frederic De Wispelaere (HIVA-KU Leuven), David J. Bailey (HMRC), Bart Stalpaert (SIOD & ELA) and Tom Bevers (FPS Belgium & ELA). This diverse set of speakers allowed for an overview of the developments made in different areas, from the measurement of the “shadow economy” through the use of indirect macroeconomic methods such as the MIMIC (more common in the academic literature) and the shadow economy index, to the “non-observed economy” and the adjustments for “exhaustiveness” in the national accounts, and first-hand data collected by controllers, such as tax audits, allowing for the calculation of the tax gap by tax administrations. The conclusion remains, however, that there is a need for a consistent framework in order to report and reconcile all of these efforts by different institutions, often working with different definitions and employing different methods. In this context, our ESR Alexandra Fernandes presented her paper on “The non-observed economy in the national accounts: “to be or not to be” on the agenda of national accountants, policymakers and academics” which provides an in-depth look into the adjustments for exhaustiveness made in the EU Member States - based on the GNI Inventories submitted to Eurostat - and assesses to what extent the interests of national accountants, seeking the exhaustiveness of GDP estimates, are aligned with those of policymakers and academics, whose main concern is the measurement of the undeclared economy and the tax gap. This is the first chapter of her PhD dissertation, paving the ground for the development of a satellite account for the undeclared economy.
The full programme and presentations are available here.
Day 2
The Day 2 of the event included a workshop on career development given by Ciska Devloo of the KU Leuven Career Center, which allowed the fellows to learn about adjusting to non-academic labour market and the plethora of skills that the fellows shall keep in mind in order to transfer successfully to the labour market.
In the afternoon the fellows and supervisors participated in a brainstorming session aimed at conceptualisation of informality, moderated by Alena Ledeneva. The session provided us an opportunity to discuss and deconstruct the theory of informality. We started with a group exercise, aiming at formulating a universal theory of informality, which was doomed to failure as we soon found out. Thus, we focused on operationalizing the various fields of informality such as shadow economy, informal practices, informal networks, informal governance etc. Re-orienting the focus from futile attempts to conceptualize the theory of informality, to operationalising and most importantly, scrutinizing our understanding of informality as it is in our respective fields. Although predictably unable to give universal answers, the participants concluded that embracing informality as it is, as a set of practices characterized by ambivalence, might be the most productive way of thinking about informality. This ambivalence revolves around the frames that we use, which might include, but are not limited to:
state vs participant
bypassing vs penetrating the state
order vs disorder
underdeveloped vs modern
integrated vs residual
Western-centric vs heuristic.
In the closing session of the day, Professor Ledeneva presented Volume 3 of the Global Encyclopaedia of Informality, titled “Hitchhiker’s Guide to Informal Problem Solving in Human Life”. The volume is co-edited by ESRs Piotr Majda and Malika Toqmadi. The volume includes entries from the Online Encyclopaedia of Informality, with numerous entries written by the project fellows.
Day 3
The third day of the project meeting was dedicated to a full-day workshop on public speaking conducted by Guido Molina (Impulsplus.com). As part of the workshop, ESRs had an opportunity to develop and enhance their public speaking skills through practical exercises. The fellows received individual feedback to their presentations, with emphasis placed on such aspects as vocal delivery, breathing, body language and genuine contact with the audience. Hopefully you will see our enhanced skills in action in upcoming conferences with our participation!
Day 4
On the final day of the programme the participants traveled to Brussels to visit the European Parliament. The fellows had an opportunity to witness the work of the Parliament during a plenary session on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work between men and women, followed by a meeting with Peter Poulussen, spokesperson for MEP Cindy Franssen.
In the closing meeting of the official programme, the fellows had an opportunity to visit the premises of the European Research Executive Agency (REA) and meet the EU Officer in charge of the project, Ivan Ginga. We ended our meeting on a cheerful note by taking a tour of Brussels and having a final dinner together at the Grand-Place.
After a year of digital project work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we greatly enjoyed and once again appreciated the benefits of in-person interaction. Looking forward to our next meeting in Helsinki later this year!
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